The Unusual Normality
by Unusual Muse
Summary: In a post-Possible world, Kim finds herself as just the person in the shadow of Middleton's superhero. When faced with a dimming limelight, what truths will Kim find and how far will she be willing to fall to get it back? Post-Graduation, KiGo later.Maybe
1. The Normality

Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible or any of the characters used in this fiction. They are under copyright of Disney Corp.

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**Chapter One: The Normality**

The warehouse was as dark inside as foreboding out. The lights, long-sense having met their demise, didn't so much as flicker as a hand jittered the switch in the darkness. Even without light, the occupants of the room could feel one another.

All, of course, save for one.

In the middle of the room, a flashlight cut through the air and illuminated stacks of crates. The slender hand holding the torch shifted this way and that, trying to find some evidence of a break-in. The various containers gave up nothing to the sleuth and soon the sole beacon of light was turned elsewhere. Up to the windows to look for a forced entrance.

A sudden sound from behind was all the warning Kim Possible got as a thick green vine wrapped around her waist. She screamed at the sudden confinement and dropped her flashlight. Suddenly, the warehouse was alight with blue and green lights. They darted from side to side, exploding in a sea of colors.

Kim wasn't paying attention, though. She had already started to wiggle out of her situation with the help of a few laser flashes from her handy lipstick. Behind her, somewhere hidden amongst the crates and machinery, Drakken yelped. The plant that he shared his body with lashed out again at the thing that had caused it harm even without the good doctor ordering it to.

This time the vines were not trying to capture the teen hero. Kim was dodging bone-crushing strikes by the barest of margins. All around her was nothing but destruction and shattered packing crates. If she was hit even once by Drakken's green tendrils, it would take her weeks of recovery from the broken bones. Over the months, the blue doctor had gotten very good at using his mutation in physical combat. He wasn't holding a candle to what was going on around him, however, and more than once both he and Kim caught themselves looking upwards towards the clashing powers of the cosmos.

Ron and Shego were leaping from foothold to foothold as they fought for dominance. The Mystical Monkey Aura, as Ron liked to call it, was easily standing up to the low-level plasma Shego was allowing herself to use. A glancing blow from her opponent made the pale thief ratchet up the power and soon the entire warehouse was wreathed in a green hue. The warriors only gave each other the barest of smirks before crashing back together like waves against a rocky shore.

This was Kim Possible's new world. The former hero was still on the ground dodging Drakken's plant appendages and not being able to do much else. She strained to kick her way to the side in an amazing display of athleticism. Her body was toned, ripped even. Below her creamy white skin muscles and sinew strained with each perfectly-measured moment. This was the pinnacle of human achievement. This was perfection.

Drakken's vines whipped out with amazing speed and caught Kim mid-air, holding her firm. Her arms were spread eagle, her legs pulled taught. She was going nowhere.

"You thought you were all that, but you weren't," Drakken taunted as he stepped out from the shadows. The vines that had previously been cut had already started to grow back and the man looked no worse for ware. He was calm, relaxed, collected. With seemingly no exertion, he had captured his arch rival.

Kimberly Ann Possible scowled at the mad scientist but she couldn't bark out any insults of her own. All of her energy was going to sucking in air to her burning lungs. Never...never had she exerted herself this much. Kim knew that she shouldn't have engaged Drakken personally. What a horrible mistake. She was only human, after all, and even a perfect human could not overcome this man. Not anymore.

A crack of air meeting energy distracted Drakken and the doctor looked skywards. Ron was now hovering mid-air and looking decidedly pissed at seeing his girlfriend strung up like a hunting trophy. The man turned to his sidekick who was warily watching the display from atop a mountain of boxes.

"Shego," he called out, "why haven't you cut loose yet?! Get rid of the buffoon so we can get the dimension inducer!" Whenever he would stomp his feet, which was fairly often to accent his childish demands, the vines constricting Kim would only constrict tighter, making the young woman wince in pain.

In response to her employer, Shego rolled her eyes. She had never liked being bossed around, but she would allow the moron to puff himself up just this once. After all, he had managed to catch Possible and keep her from getting in the way. "Time to really cut loose, Cherry," the woman purred.

Ron turned in time to see his opponent literally burst into flame. This was the full extent of Shego's powers when her comet was mid-ways from Earth. All of the Go siblings would likely get a boost in power, more so when the main comet body passed closer to the planet. Right now the air around Shego's body had to be several hundred degrees. The supervillain had already engaged the small jet pack she was wearing and now floated silently in the air a few feet from Ron. Their conflicting powers swirled around in the air causing small sparks of energy to flare up.

On the ground, Dr. Drakken and Kim were transfixed on the sight. The building itself started to shake and wane under the power of the two super-charged combatants, it seemed. Their blows were nearly faster than human eyes could follow and their combat was highly mobile. Soon they had both left the confines of the warehouse and could be seen clashing in the night sky through the large windows ringing the complex.

Kim eased her fingers into her shirt sleeve while Drakken wasn't paying attention. Her laser lipstick was still right where she had left it. The beam sliced through the green appendages for the second time tonight and Drakken yelped in pain. Over time, the vines had become further integrated into his body so he shared both a higher reflex rate and pain with his symbiote. Rolling as she hit the ground, the young woman hid among the darkness now gripping the interior of the warehouse.

The blackness was comforting, in a way. It hid her fear, her desperation, her emotions from the world just as it was physically hiding her from the raving Dr. Drakken. Green tendrils of all shapes and sizes slithered through the warehouse and Kim was thankful they had not developed senses other than their ability to feel. For now, at least.

Quietly, the teen hero slipped out of the open warehouse door and into the open parking lot. She could see Shego and Ron still fighting it out high above her and, for what must have been the hundredth time in as many seconds, felt utterly helpless. Her hands fell to her mission backpack where, with the push of a button, she could join them in the air...but to go up there now meant certain death. Either she would get caught by a flurry of punches from Ron that would separate parts of her body or Kim would get burnt to a crisp by Shego.

How long had the pale villainess had this kind of power? Had all of their battles over five long years been nothing but a diversion? Now that she had a worthy opponent, Shego had never once held back. Her power leaked from her entire body with a fiery rage. When Kim had first seen it, she had been struck speechless. Now, given how often Ron and her fought, Kim figured the glamor had worn off a bit. Still, though, it was a sight to behold. Terrible and breathtaking, all at the same time.

A sudden movement brought Kim's attention closer to earth. The warehouse door she had snuck out of had just been torn from its hinges and now laid only a few feet from her. She stared at the maw of thorny vines slithering out of the doorway with an impassive stare. Drakken had finally figured out she had escaped, huh? The doctor was getting quicker on the uptake these days.

Quicker on the uptake than even Kim would have imagined, it seemed. The pavement beneath the hero's feet cracked and split as two long vines burst from the asphalt and latched onto her legs. Another thick vine wrapped around Kim's arm before a third salvo of laser could get her free.

"Not this time, Possible," Drakken growled. His voice had grown cold. Annoyed. That was what Kim Possible was now, an annoyance. He pulled the vines tighter and giggled like a schoolgirl when he heard the teen hero grunt in pain. Years of simply sending Shego after the redhead did no justice to the feeling of dealing with Kim Possible himself.

Sadly, for Drakken, it was at that moment Ron noticed what was going on. He surged his power and sent Shego flying back through the air and into a nearby construction crane, the impact doubling it over. Swooping down on the blue scientist, Ron easily ripped the vines holding his girlfriend in half. Drakken gulped and started to back away, but the blond monkey master already had the flailing plants in an iron grip. All it took was a few twirls through the air and Drakken was soon joining Shego on the rubble pile.

Kim, who had hit the ground, pushed the tangled vines off of her legs and arms and stood on shaky feet. "Thanks for the save, Ron," she said with a lopsided smile.

Her boyfriend put an arm on her shoulder for stability. "No problem, KP! Rufus can clean things up from here." Indeed, the naked mole rat was standing atop Shego and Drakken having tied them both up in Drakken's vines. Even the little rat had mystical monkey power.

The police soon arrived to take the supervillain duo into custody. Fortunately, Shego was still unconscious and the Global Justice-developed grown inhibitor was keeping Drakken's powers subdued. Kim was getting some oxygen from a nearby ambulance as Ron was giving the local Global Justice agent a rundown of what had happened. The redhead sighed into the plastic breathing apparatus as she watched her boyfriend make wild gestures and point at the destruction behind him. There were even a few camera crews trying to set up before Shego and Drakken were taken off.

_'What a media circus,'_ Kim thought. Everyone was eager to get a glimpse of a real superhero. Why not? Ron could fly, had super speed, super strength; why shouldn't he get attention? Still, when a reporter actually pushed past her to get a better shot of Shego being loaded into a police car, drugged of course, Kim had to find a different place to catch her breath.

It had been like this for over a year now. Ever since the Warmonga Incident, as the world called it, the unlikely blond hero had been placed upon a pedestal by his fans. Suddenly, the world couldn't get enough of Ron. TV spots, newspapers, even internet fansites.

At first, Kim had been ecstatic. In the past she had always been modest when it came to her own fame but when Ron was suddenly just as popular, Kim had allowed herself a bit more exposure. Their relationship was also everything American; two super crime fighters that grew up together and now fought crime. What wasn't to love?

Even Shego had gotten a booster shot from the publicity. As one of the most famous thieves in the world, Shego had a cult following ranging from the anarchists and anti-authority to the more sophisticated upper-crusts of society. Everyone loved a good villain, after all. She had also been set up as Ron's arch enemy.

_**That**_ was one of the more annoying things to have come out of this entire affair, in Kim's opinion.

Of course, now that she could really bare the brunt of her power out in the open, was it any surprise? It had all come out a few months after the scientific awards ceremony and a few weeks after Drakken had gotten bored and went back to villainy.

Really, it shouldn't have come as any surprise.

Kim had faced-off with Shego, like normal, during a heist. It had been only one shot, one lucky shot, and it had lit a fuse. Even as Kim was leaping back to her feet, a blue blur was rocketing past her. Shego hadn't had time to even blink before Ron pinned her to the wall. At the time, the Go Meteor was very close to the planet and Shego let out just a little too much plasma which Ron had simply batted away...

Things went downhill from there.

It was a blur, all the things that had happened. Shego and Ron had gotten into such a huge fight that whatever it was Drakken was trying to steal got destroyed. Even Kim had been forced to flee the building when those two had really started fighting. Shego's powers weren't so much about strength, but about destructive power. Plasma bolts that could topple buildings were casually being tossed around and just as casually being deflected. With the ability to fly, or "fall gracefully" as Ron called it, he made a more appetizing target to the villainess than a certain spunky ex-cheerleader.

Gallingly, the redhead had been slated to Drakken duty and even that was becoming a moot point. Drakken's own powers were far from normal; his vines could rip apart cars and move with such speed that, unless Kim was having a very good day, were unable to be followed by the human eye. The only reason Kim could still deal with the doctor was his being green when fighting. Even that was vanishing, however. Drakken was getting pretty good at brawling.

A sudden mass of flashbulbs blinded Kim and shook her out of her musing. Ron had managed to escape from all the reporters and was coming over to her. He had matured a bit and was less accident-prone around the press, something Kim was very thankful for. He was even starting to develop something of a swagger; saving the world was a real confidence-booster.

"I'll rip out your spine next time, Stoppable!" Shego snarled from the police car. This successfully diverted half of the cameras and Kim could have sworn her old enemy was putting on a show for her fans. At least, when Kim had been fighting her Shego had never made public threats of revenge.

Ron rolled his eyes and the reporters chuckled, like all of this was just an inside joke. "You'll have to find it first! I've never had much of a backbone!" Wait, did Ron just make a joke that didn't make him look like a dork? Kim wouldn't put it past the realm of possibility given what had taken place over the last year.

Yes, many things had changed. Kim Possible was now, basically, the sidekick. It was still Team Possible, Ron wouldn't even entertain anyone who said it was otherwise, but all knew that was just a name. When people posted problems, they were asking for Ron.

Nuclear reactor that needed to be fixed? Monkey mojo protected Ron from just about anything other than blunt-force trauma and, in rare cases, the upper limits of heat from Shego's plasma. How about an out of control airplane? Ron can fly up there and practically catch the thing. Hell, he didn't even need favors for transportation.

_'Do I not have a function anymore?'_ Kim asked herself with some annoyance as she was led through the throng of people. She was smiling to keep the reporters happy and she managed to sneak a smirk to Shego as the villian was being "chauffeured" away for old time's sake. Unfortunately, the older woman either did see or didn't care enough to return it.

Being the sidekick really did suck. Kim now understood how Ron must have felt all those years.

After answering a few questions, most of which were about her life being Ron Stoppable's girlfriend, the couple managed to appease the journalists enough that they eased up and let the team through. Now that she had a reason, Kim found she didn't mind talking to them all too much. The confidence booster of just being on television and knowing about it, paying attention to it...well, it was filling the gap left by not being in the hero spotlight anymore. All the questions about Ron were a put-off, though.

Thus ended yet another typical Team Possible mission. Kim saved her journal file and turned off her computer. Her dorm was fairly quiet and Kim was glad she had gotten a single. Ron had left several hours ago and was instantly swarmed by various college-goers who wanted to chat or get an autograph. Somewhere deep down, Kim was happy Ron was gone.

The redhead stretched out her sore muscles and grabbed a change of clothes before heading to the shower. She had an American Government class early tomorrow and Kim was eager to work out any kinks and go to sleep.

As her head hit her pillow, Kim sighed long and softly, content now that the day was over. Truth be told, her missions weren't usually this physical anymore. Shego and Ron would usually fight and put on a show for the cameras then either Shego would escape with Drakken or Ron would catch them. Today, though, Drakken had decided he was going to be a bastard.

It had happened several times in the past. For a few months after he had gotten superpowers he had really rubbed that fact in. Eventually though he had slacked off and would only be tough on Kim when Shego made him feel particularly small before a robbery. That's probably what had happened tonight.

All-in-all, it wasn't that bad. Shego had went to prison along with Drakken, not like they'd stay in there, and Ron shook-off the reporters a lot faster than usual. He even took Kim to Bueno Nacho without getting mobbed. They couldn't stay very long, but it was better than most nights.

Yup, it was a good day. Not like Kim had wanted to be the one to talk to the reporters or get asked for autographs. Nope, those days were long behind her and she had a bright, stable future to look forward to...

...and for yet another night, Kim quietly curled up in bed and blankly stared at the wall...


	2. The Strange

Disclaimer: Still don't own Kim Possible. I can't bring Disney to the negotiating table just yet...

**Chapter Two: The Strange**

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The next day was one of a full schedule for Kim. Her Political Science lecture had finally let out and she was now walking off to lunch. Middleton University sported a decent enough cafeteria and the redhead was looking forward to a break. Unfortunately for her, things were about to take a turn for the worse.

Like clockwork the daily "Ron Gang" rumbled through the hallways and burst through the doors of the college cafeteria. There were the assorted fans, hangers-on, scene kids, and assorted faculty who just liked to be a part of the "action" that was the new Ron Stoppable.

Although he had gotten numerous offers from colleges all over the world, Ron had decided to stick with what he knew. Thus, when Kim had packed up and migrated to Middleton University, Ron had went right along with her. Of course, being a superhero was anything but low-key. Ron had taken to it well enough, though.

"KP! I'll be over in a second!" Kim had to smile at that. Ron would be Ron no matter how big the crowd was. Not even Ron's cheery disposition could override all the glares Kim got from the fangirls in the group, though. Seemingly oblivious to them, he plopped down in the seat opposite Kim with his tray of food while his groupies disbursed.

Kim nodded, laughed, and sighed when appropriate as Ron started talking about what a great day he was having. Apparently he had aced a chem test that he hadn't had time to study for and he was put into the starting lineup for the football team. Surprise, surprise. Kim was certain someone had pulled a few strings but if Ron didn't catch it she wasn't going to point it out. Other than the few sarcastic thoughts, the redhead mostly went with the mood of the conversation and replied when necessary.

Her mind, however, couldn't have been farther away. She was planning what she would do next period, getting her schedule in-place, and picking out a wardrobe for tomorrow. It wasn't that Kim found Ron boring or that she was purposefully ignoring him, it was just...well, she couldn't keep focused on anything anymore. Not just Ron, but everything. Her grades were still up of course, but the lecture didn't have the same hold it did in high school. The fire was just gone.

Ron noticed the blank look in his girlfriend's eyes. He continued to talk though. He had tried to just let the conversation die once and Kim had instantly asked him why he had stopped talking. It was a talent she had, being able to subconsciously listen while her mind worked on other things. Most of all, though, she just looked bored. He tried to think of topics that would interest Kim such as that the cheer squad was looking for new members or that the karate club was accepting applications but nothing was getting through. Oh, he'd get a response but it was always nothing more than a curt nod or, on a good day, a few words.

_'Must be the college thing,'_ Ron thought to himself. Kim had become fairly distant since college had started so that was a good explanation. But...then again, Kim had been in college for several months now and she was still in this rut.

As the bell rang, Kim gave him a weak smile and said something about heading off to her American Literature class. Ron nodded and trotted away to his own classes. He was stopped by the ringing of his Kimmunicator before he got too far.

The screen flickered with static for a brief moment before Wade popped on screen. The boy had grown a bit in the last year, but he was still the introverted tech wizard that he always was. Still, he was all business. "Ron, Shego and Drakken busted out of prison again," he stated.

This wasn't that big of a surprise to Ron. He had honestly expected them to break out a lot sooner. "Got a lead on them? Oh! Maybe we can pick them back up before they get to a lair!" That was always fun, sending them right back to prison. A sudden thought hit the boy, though, and he ducked into a side hallway to ditch the mob following him. "Have you called KP yet?" he asked once he was certain of their privacy.

"She's the next one to get the info," Wade replied.

"Don't tell her. I think she's been stressed with all this college stuff, I can take care of those two." Yeah, this was a great idea! That just had to be it. Kim was probably stressed from her last fight with Drakken. She had gotten pretty banged around after all. Ron nodded to himself, this was a great idea.

Wade didn't look like he approved but he left the decision up to Ron. Not like he wanted to see Kim get hurt either. "Are you sure you can handle them both?" Wade asked as an afterthought. Shego was powerful enough by herself and with Drakken added to the mix...

Ron, though, didn't look worried. "That's the one thing I'm good at now! No problemo for the Ronster." He certainly looked confident. "Just tell me which way to go and I'll have them back behind bars before KP even knows that they escaped."

Yeah, this was certain to be a great idea. Wade didn't like it but what could he do? Ron practically ran the show these days. "Sending you the coordinates now, Ron. Call for backup if you ne-"

The Kimmunicator went black as Ron cut the connection. He had a general idea of the direction Shego and Drakken were traveling and that's all he needed. With Rufus securely in his pocket, the young boy dashed out into the campus courtyard and took a mighty leap into the air. Shego and Drakken were a fair distance away from the campus but he could get their in one class time. With permission from the dean, Ron could leave in case of a national emergency and still make up his classes.

Far below Ron, traveling at a brisk pace through neighborhoods and suburbs, Shego and Drakken were making their way towards their Middleton lair. Drakken's vines were proving to be a very effective method of locomotion and Shego had always been adept at fleeing the scene of an escape. It wasn't long before she felt Ron in the area, though.

"Dr. D, we've got incoming!" Shego growled as she leapt atop a nearby house. Without her alien jet pack she couldn't hover; that would give Stoppable a decent advantage. "Keep an eye out for Kim."

Drakken snorted but creeped into a rather large tree. He would get the drop on the annoying Possible by outsmarting her! Yes, he was a genius in both the lab and the battlefield. At least, that's how the good doctor saw himself.

Ron blinked as flew past a cackling Drakken sitting in a tree. The mad scientist didn't even seem to notice the boy and went about his ranting. Oh well.

"Has Drakken finally lost it?" Ron asked as Shego started powering up.

Shego shrugged. Who knew what was going though her boss's mind at any given moment? "Lost it? That would imply that he had it at some point," she scoffed. Slowly, though, her sarcastic demeanor shifted into a confident one, her scoff became a smirk, and her arms lit up with green flame. "Ready to dance, creampuff?" She did do a quick scan for Kim to make sure the teen didn't get in the crossfire. She had gotten a lot better about that, though, since her ponytail had been burnt off a few months ago. Come to think of it...

"Where's Kim?"

The boy wonder shifted in the air and tried not to look sheepish. "She's...uh...she doesn't need to come along to take care of you two!" Lame, but all Ron could come up with.

Shego laughed long and hard as she launched a plasma bolt at the boy. "You just don't want her to see me kick your ass." The thief exploded off of the roof she was standing on in a burst of plasma and plowed into Ron, sending him flying through the air. The boy crashed into a parked car and was now stuck in the metal. It had crumpled like a soda can under the force of his impact.

He didn't have long to escape before a ball of plasma enveloped him. The gas in the car exploded and took a large chunk of the street with it. Ron, protected at the last second by his Monkey Mojo, casually walked through the wall of fire that had overtaken him.

All around people were fleeing their homes in terror. There weren't too many people in America that couldn't identify Shego, Ron, or Drakken by their unique powers and no one wanted to be caught up in a fight.

As Ron and Shego faced off, Drakken slipped down from his tree. Seeing the Buffoon all busy was just too good of an opportunity. That, and Kim Possible didn't look like she was showing up.

The green vines snaked through the lawns and homes that had been evacuated. With Ron and Shego fighting on the ground, it was simple enough to just have the appendages sneak up and grab the boy's leg in a grip that could bend steel.

Ron yelped as he was tugged backwards and Shego lost no time delivering an explosive punch to his jaw. The blond's head snapped back in time to catch Shego's boot coming from the other side, sending him screaming into a vacated house. This time he was a lot slower getting up.

"Thanks, Doctor D!" Shego called out. Maybe Drakken wasn't so useless after all? As she pounced on Ron when he stumbled out of the house, Shego missed the small blue device that was jostled out of the boy's pocket.

Wade, now able to see what was going on, quickly started to type at his computer. He had known this was a very bad idea from the get-go. Oh no, though, Ron wouldn't listen. He could handle it. Yeah, right, not yet he couldn't. Judging by how revved Shego seemed, the pale thief was probably in a bad mood. The geek knew who he should call, but in fighting like this...

"...any port in a storm, right?" Wade mumbled as he keyed up the second Kimmunicator.

Kim was sitting in class when she felt her com device start to rumble. Although Ron still kept the old team jingle on his, his girlfriend had learned early in the year that professors wouldn't be nearly as understanding with her disrupting class. Excusing herself, she walked out into the hall before turning the device on.

A worried face greeted her on the small screen. "What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked. Classes were mostly going on so the halls were vacant.

"We've got trouble! Shego and Drakken have escaped and Ron's fighting them both!" The boy tried not to sound so worried but a camera feed of Shego literally dragging Ron's head along the asphalt wasn't doing much for his nerves.

"Wait, wait...Ron went on a mission by himself? Dammit, Wade! How could you let him do something like that?!" Kim fired back. She cut the connection before Wade could answer and darted out the main door. What was Ron thinking? He didn't take missions without her! They had agreed to that after graduation!

Running past surprised students in her dorm, Kim sprinted into her private dorm and nearly yanked the closet door off it's hinges getting to something inside. Hanging at the back of the rack was a single white suit that lit up when the redhead's fingers brushed across its surface.

Kim slid on the skin-tight battle suit after discarding her clothes. Truthfully, she didn't like relying on this machine to fight, but it would serve a purpose today.

With an amazing show of dexterity, Kim leapt out of her third-story dorm and easily landed on the ground outside without missing a beat. Her car was parked right outside and soon the hero was well on her way towards the column of smoke rising in the distance...

"Got a ride yet, Drakken?!" Shego shouted over the roar of her own powers. Ron rushed her once again and the woman easily dodged his clumsy assault. The boy was rattled enough from the pavement grinding Shego had dealt earlier and now he was just getting toyed with. That's what he got for playing hero, though.

Hearing sirens in the distance, Shego finally got tired of beating around the bush. Using a nearby house as a springboard, the super-charged villain scouted Ron with precision and drove her fist into his stomach with such force that the air around them seemed to crack.

The villainess landed perfectly on her feet near where Ron had fallen. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and smirked; heroes would never, ever learn. "Come oooon, Doctor D! Don't you have anything yet? It's not that hard to hotwire a car! Geeze, I could have built a car out of all the scrap metal around in the time it's taken you to-"

With a sudden hitch in her breath, Shego paused her ravings. She had heard something above the sounds around her that didn't sit well. It was like an out of place breeze rusting the trees or something. Shego couldn't really explain it, but the feeling was there. Just as she turned to get a better look, it happened.

A boot-clad foot drilled into the woman's solar plexus the moment Shego had made a move. Flying a good five yards before skidding to a halt, the green villain coughed and sputtered while trying to get some air back in her lungs. When she looked up to see who had hit her, there was only the very groggy Ron Stoppable struggling to rise.

"D-Drakken, where the hell are you?" Getting to her feet, Shego flared up and steadied herself. Whoever had hit her had been quick; faster than Stoppable. The strike had certainly lacked power, though. If someone with more force had hit her when she was that unguarded it would have knocked the thief unconscious.

The good doctor was several feet over looking just as baffled as his partner. "Shego, what hit you?" he asked, obviously not having caught the exchange.

With a snarl, the super-powered female stomped over to Ron and picked him up by the back of the neck. At this range his monkey powers wouldn't be able to block her plasma. "Did you do that?" Shego demanded. She hadn't been caught that unawares since...well, it had been a long time.

The sound of footsteps running along wood drew Shego's attention to a nearby rooftop. Ron forgotten, the thief fired a bolt of plasma into the building that sent charred debris flying and left only a smoldering crater of what had been a two-story home.

Amongst the raining balls of fire, a white blur weaved and whipped in and out of Shego's sight. The unnerved woman sent a few more shots out and just barely leaped away when one was sent back at her. A barrage of punches came at the woman the moment she touched the ground and Shego soon found herself face-to-face with the last person she had expected to see.

"Kim?! What the he-" The thief's statement was cut short by her mouth being filled with Kim's fist. Shego felt a few of her teeth rattle and quickly swatted the younger woman away.

How long had it been since she had felt such a hit? Shego didn't know and she didn't want her body to have to remember. Fighting down the initial reaction to flare her plasma, the thief instead sent a few low-powered bolts at the younger woman. If she were to really cut loose then there wouldn't be enough of Kim left to fill an urn.

The redhead easily avoided the plasma and even caught one with the scoop function of her suit to send back at Shego. This is what she had missed, Kim realized. This back and forth along with the thrill of a fight. It was obvious Shego was holding back, though, and that grated on the girl. Still, the mission was to get Ron out of there; that was it. Shego was still standing over by him, though.

"Hey, Shego! Aren't you a little slow?" Kim shouted, "A year ago and you would have hit me already." Trying to goat the woman into cranking it up a bit, and maybe come after her, Kim started to use her suit more to augment her legs instead of using it only as a defense to the heat.

This only make Shego more and more frustrated. Of course she knew what Kim was doing in trying to get her away from the buffoon. Initially the plan was just to keep Kim busy, without killing her, to give Drakken enough time to steal a ride. The way the girl wasn't even trying to dodge anymore was getting on her nerves, though. Finally, the plasma-powered woman charged up a substantially larger orb of plasma and hurled it at the redhead. It would just knock the girl out...after sending her through a house or two.

Kim saw the attack coming and stomped her feet into the dirt. This was it, a chance to attack would come right after this. Tossing away maneuverability, Kim put everything the suit had into the shield systems and crossed her arms over her head.

The resulting explosion shook the block and sent bits of dirt and concrete into the air like smoking streamers from a ticker-tape parade. Obviously something had gone wrong, the blast wasn't supposed to be that big! Even Drakken, who had been wisely staying out of the fight, was blown away. It...it must have hit a propane tank or something! The brunette ran into the dust, trying to find a sign of Kim. Instead of the redhead, though, she only found a crater.

_'Ohgodohgodohgodohgod'_ Shego's mind was awash in an ocean of worry as she fell to her hands and knees beside the crater's rim. She had just _**blown up Kim Possible**_. This was three, no, _four_ times worse than the time she had cracked the Sistine Chapel! Kim Possible, media darling and former savior of the world, was now in little bit-sized chunks!

"Hey, Shego," the familiar voice cut through the mist in the thief's mind and she looked up. There, standing over her, was none other than Kimberly Ann Possible in all her tattered glory. She was bleeding from several places and her suit was sparking from the very large gashes in it, but the girl was smiling. Not a happy smile, either, but Shego was far too relieved to notice that. Kim noticed the look and her smirk only increased. "You really need to work on your aim. Next time you half-kill me you better make sure you do the job right." With what little power was left in the suit, Kim chopped the back of Shego's neck and sent the woman into darkness.

With that, the redhead promptly fell to the ground in agony. There were too many places on her body that were screaming at her. The Power Suit was understandably shot, as was nearly every appendage that wasn't covered by it. That included the hero's entire right leg and left arm as well as a few ribs. Kim coughed and spit up a few globs of blood, wincing at the pain the spasms caused in her chest. She spared a glance at Shego and noted with disgust at how well her formal rival looked.

Kim closed her eyes in a sigh at that. Ron was pretty much the same way now after he had tapped into his Monkey Powers.

_Freaks. _

Kim snorted at the sudden thought and shook her head, enjoying the absence of the sun in her eyes for a moment. They were still people no matter what had happened to them, no matter how...unique they were. Really, that kind of thinking was pretty bigoted and Kim Possible was anything but intolerant.

...right?

The introspective was soon out of the teens hands, though, when the news crews started to descend. Ron was just getting back up and, not looking very beat-up, reporters flocked to him.

"What a titanic battle between Ron Stoppable, savior of Earth, and Shego, mistress of evil!" It was one of the more tabloid-ish reporters who was shoving people out of the way to get a shot. The fat newsman pulled the groggy Stoppable to his feat and shoved him in front of a camera. "Not only that, you have saved Kim Possible from certain death!"

Kim blinked a few times just to make sure she wasn't still loopy. Ron had saved her? "No, wait-"

The girl's protest came too late, however, as she was already being swept away by paramedics. Despite her injuries, Kim still managed to look around enough to see a bashful, and very confused, Ron Stoppable speaking with his gaggle of reporters and a very irate Doctor Drakken being put into a police car with the special growth-inhibiting cuffs in place.

What really caught the Kim's attention wasn't either of these things. It was a perfectly conscious Shego calmly walking along with police with her own band of journalists trailing behind her.

That last blow should have kept Shego down and out...but there the woman was, looking fresh as a daisy. It couldn't have been more than three, no, two minutes! Shouldn't putting your very life on the line be able to take someone like that out?

Wasn't that a fair trade?

Of course, no answers were forthcoming to the former hero as the ambulance doors closed shut, blocking her view of the battlefield.


	3. Me, Myself, and That Giant Elephant

Disclaimer: Still don't own Kim Possible!

**Chapter Three: Me, Myself, and That Giant Elephant**

* * *

"I can't tell ya how sorry I am for all this, KP."

That had been Ron Stoppable's mantra for several days as Kim rested in Middleton Hospital. He was, of course, referring to not being able to protect his girlfriend from Shego.

In fact, the extent of Kim's injuries were enough to even make Bonnie come and visit at one point. A broken leg, arm, and a few rips. Not to mention that her lung had been punctured by one of those ribs. In all, it would probably be several more weeks before Kim got out of this hospital bed.

Despite all that, Kim was not mad at Ron not being on the ball. Nor was she mad at the boy for taking off by himself. No, it was the sheer media circus her hospital stay had caused and the fact that Ron was given the credit for taking down Shego. The woman hadn't even broken out of prison yet! The press was saying that Ron must have scared her so much after hurting his girlfriend that the pale woman was afraid to face him.

Imagine; Shego being afraid!

No, Kim was not angry with her boyfriend and thus endured all of his doting and apologizing with grace. It wasn't his fault the media jumped to the wrong conclusion. Not that he had tried to correct it, though...of course, he might not even remember what had happened during the fight. He was only concerned with what happened afterwards. Something changed in him that day, Kim noted.

Ron was always out on missions now, but the hero wasn't worried. So long as Shego stayed in prison for whatever reason Ron could handle himself alone. Hell, with all this live-fire experience, the blond could probably handle everything alone from now on.

_'...best not to think about that one for sanity's sake.'_

And so, the days passed much like this. Kim's bones were broken and tired, so the rest was welcome. The lack of missions did make the redhead go a little stir-crazy, though. Most of the days were spent leafing through college books or internet courses. The entire semester was a wash, obviously, but she could at least keep up with her studies. It was only when she had hit the end of a particularly arduous applied physics book one day that Kim flipped on the television. She hadn't touched the thing in so long the teen was looking forward to seeing some good, old-fashioned tabloids.

Unfortunately, the current crop of stories wouldn't do much to help her condition.

"...And once again, Team Stoppable pulls through. Monty Fiske, otherwise known as Monkey Fist, was latest in a long line of arrests." The Middleton News was blaring its latest garbage, but for once Kim wasn't in the mood to make her usual snide comments.

Team Stoppable? What the hell was that? The heart monitors rose with Kim's labored breathing as Ron's face popped up in a cheesy powerpoint effect behind the news anchor along with a waving American Flag in the background. Was this actually for real?

Too bad for Kim the montage of horror wasn't finished yet. Soon, Ron's face was replaced by her own with a badly-imposed ice pack sitting on her head. "Ron Stoppable's girlfriend, former hero Kim Possible, is still recuperating from her injuries sustained while trying to protect her boyfriend from the supervillain Shego. Our insider says that the girl is "on the mend" and frequently enjoys the company of her boyfriend in the hospital. Now, on to sports."

Kim pressed the "off" button on her TV remote with a fair bit of disgust. Former hero? Trying to protect?

"What the hell is this shit?!" Normally not one to curse aloud, or at least where others could hear her, Kim was beyond caring. She was furious, livid, and a million other adjectives that in no way could describe what she was feeling at the moment.

How dare they rename the team! It was her team, she had created it! Unable to do anything other tense her fists until they shook, Kim tried to calm down. She tried to remind herself that it was just a name, tried to remind herself that she hadn't been out of this damned bed in over a month. Of course the idiot television people wouldn't report the correct things if she wasn't out there reminding them.

Well, it was time to do something about that, then! Her leg was already in a cast along with her arm, so it'd probably be a few more weeks before the damn casts would come off and the doctors get off her back. Didn't mean she couldn't go back home, though. Finding the little nurse's button, Kim was determined to get that process started ASAP.

But, something made her pause right as her thumb hovered over the button.

She was enjoying the time off. The thought hit the hero like a ton of bricks. So what if she was, though? That didn't make her a bad person! All that work, all those responsibilities; who needed them? As the world had proven, it wouldn't end if Kim Possible took some time off.

_'Yeah,'_ Kim thought, _'Ron's out there. He can pick up the slack.' _Yup, people were still being saved and bad guys punished. Actually, her boyfriend was doing a better job of it than she ever had. He didn't even need rides anymore. Mystical Monkey flying cut down on air time.

So, if that was the case, why did Kim still want to beat the living hell out of him?_ 'How dare he steal the thunder of Kim Possible!'_ part of the girl's mind was screaming. It was that little corner of Kim's heart that she had resolved herself long ago to not listen to. Nothing good ever came from it. Now, though, it was starting to ring true.

"It's not Ron's fault," Kim reminded herself. She felt the need to actively debate with this little bad seed on this issue, though the reason why this particular line of thought was defense-worthy defied explanation. "Why should I care _**how**_ the world gets saved so long as it gets saved?" There, that was a good point.

Kim could almost hear her brain making a disapproving click of the tongue. _'You care. If you didn't, why would you even be thinking about it?' _

Touche'.

Her brain had a point: If the thought of being out of the limelight didn't bother Kim very much, why **was** she thinking about it? "Treasonous brain," the girl mumbled. "Okay, so I care a bit. It was...kinda nice having people recognize me. It made it easier to help them."

_'Bullshit. You liked all the favors they would do for you. You liked the designer hairstyles, the free air travel, the exotic locations, being so famous you could act like you **honestly** didn't care, the gaggles of people asking for your autograph, and all the merchandising money.' _

"Fringe benefits!" Kim shot back. "The only reason I got all those things is because those people were nice already, not because I saved them. I didn't even see a cent of that advertising money, either! It all went to charity or the website." At least, most of it had. College tuition wasn't cheap, after all.

Right?

_'Yeah, sure. Just the simple fact that you never listen to this part of yourself, and yet, here I am, proves that this is close to the real you.' _Kim's mind bickered back. _'You've even let yourself go a few times, enjoyed the freedom of it! Showing up all those little kids at soccer, kicking Shego into that signal tower-'_

"That was an accident!"

_'Okay, you say it was an accident? What about all the **other** times you two have actively tried to kill each other? She tried to slice you up with a giant blender, you left her and Drakken to freeze to death under a polar ice cap, she let you drop hundreds of feet up from a blimp, you set said blimp on a collision-course for the ocean...you really have a fascination with drowning Shego, don't you?'_

Kim let out some sort of primordial growl as she gripped the steal railing of her hospital bed. She did not have a fascination with anything Shego! She wasn't even trying to kill the other woman! "If I were trying to kill Shego, she'd have been cut in half with laser lipstick or something a long time ago," the bed-ridden girl countered. Finally, the voice didn't have an answer.

It was at that point in the one-sided conversation that the nurse lingering outside finally decided to just come in. The poor woman had been standing outside for a good ten minutes, listening to Kim Possible rant to herself. Of course, she wouldn't say a word about it. Not when the girl had a boyfriend like Ron Stoppable.

The checkup was relatively standard with only a few questions from Kim about how she was healing. Apparently the worst breaks were mending and the minor things were just about ready to be checked off. It would still be a few more weeks on the casts, though.

For the first time in a few weeks, Kim got to put her feet under her. Against the nurse's better judgment, the teen hero had practically leaped out of bed when she heard her ribs were healed. One foot in front of the other, the girl walked a few laps around her room. This was, by far, the longest Kim had gone without some form of exercise so her muscles weren't doing very much for her.

"I can check myself out, right?" With those simple words, the redhead soon found herself on the fast-track to freedom. Kim waited in her room, filling out paperwork, until her mother got off her shift.

They rode him together with Ann asking all kinds of annoying questions about Ron and how he was doing. Apparently, not even the senior Possibles were immune to the starshine coming off of the superhero. Personally, Kim wondered if all the reporters always asking her parents about Ron's early life got to their heads. Not that Kim ever had people wanting to write books about her. Oh no.

"Oh, I called Ron for you." Isn't she helpful? "He'll be at the house when we get home."

The redhead swallowed a snide comment that was threatening to bubble its way up. Taking a deep breath, Kim reminded herself that she hated people who were mean for the sake of being mean. It made her skin crawl. Usually. When it wasn't her doing the snipping.

Honestly, Kim didn't want to see her boyfriend today. First day out of the hospital and she would probably be swamped by reporters camped-out in her yard. Sure enough, there were a few reporters on the scene that swamped the car the moment Kim stepped outside.

"Come on, let me get my wheelchair," Kim groaned as a camera was thrust into her face. When the device didn't immediately get retracted, Kim ripped it out of the reporter's hand.

More flashes went off and people started to crowd the small vehicle even more. The small hero's foot was almost caught between the door and the car, but Kim yanked it up at the last second. With her good foot, she kicked the door back open, knocking down a reporter and setting off another flurry of photography.

The camera that had started everything was tossed up into the air as Kim pulled herself up with her only free hand. Even though it hurt like hell to stand on her broken leg, the redhead powered through the pain and hobbled up the walkway to her house with a mob of people surrounding her. The paparazzi knew better than to try and push their way into someone's house so they stayed put on the lawn when the girl retreated inside. After all, they had all the news they needed and Ann Possible was still trying to politely deal with their peers. She'd be good for an interview.

"Argh!" Such was the universal grunt of frustration and anger Kim Possible uttered once she was relatively safe from the storm outside. Predictably, Ron was sitting in the living room watching television, but he jumped up when he heard his girlfriend.

"KP! You're finally back!" He was fairly happy despite the look of utter annoyance on his friend's face. "What's up? Did you let the guys outside bug you?"

Amazed at the very question, it took Kim a few moments to recover. When she did, her entire face transformed into a visage of near rage. "Ron! Did you know those...people were out there?!"

Now, if there were a smart man in this very situation, he would have probably ran to the window, looked out, and seemed surprised. Probably say something along the lines of how they hadn't been out there when he came over and then lead Kim over to the sofa to ask how she was. This would end the entire situation and he'd probably get some makeout time that they had missed over the weeks.

Ron Stoppable was never a smart man.

"Oh, the journalists? Yeah, they followed me over." Said just as if Ron were spouting out a random answer in class, the boy had no idea how much he just fucked himself over.

They just followed him over...just... "Do you have any idea how annoying it is to be followed around by people like that?!" Kim's bad side was in rare form today and she was backing up Ron with every step forward she took. "I almost had my leg smashed in the car door! You don't even notice them, do you!? You don't even care!"

At this point, Ann had finally made her way back inside. Unfortunately, Kim's yelling had caught the paparazzi interest and they were crowding around the door, snapping away.

The flashes didn't even bother Kim as the girl was on a roll. All of the anger and frustration that had been building for months seemingly erupted on a worldwide stage. "You don't get it, do you? The world revolves around Ron Stoppable! Everyone else is just an accessory! Just some little babble that you've picked up in your life. You're loving it, aren't you?"

"W-what?" Ron was completely blindsided by the hostility and he looked helplessly from Kim to the cameras outside who were now filming the train wreck in real time. "Can't we do this inside?" the boy whimpered. Ann, ever the trooper, moved to close the door but Kim defiantly held it open.

"No, Ron, we can't. You're Mr. Global now so we can't keep your public waiting," she hissed. "What's wrong? Don't want them to know there's trouble in paradise? Would that hurt your merchandise sales? Would it jade your little fans?" The teen was on a roll. "Oh, wait! That's right, you don't even notice them. **Completely** oblivious."

Needless to say, the people outside went nuts. All kinds of questions were being shouted while cameras rolled and flashed into the house. Ron, stunned into silence, could only look like a deer caught in the headlights.

Kim took that window to sneer at the reporters and stomp up to her room. It was a bit hard to get up to her loft, but the teen managed and she loudly pulled up the stairs and left the fallout to her boyfriend and mother.

The girl took a deep breath and flopped onto her bed. She listened to the mayhem outside and was happy to be out of that storm. Even though Kim realized she was being harsh the teen couldn't find enough care in her entire body. It was Ron's fault that she was mad. He just never thought about anything! Was that too much to ask?

"He can sit down there and simmer," Kim told herself. She was back at home and on the fast track to recovery. Nothing could possibly go wrong. This entire thing would probably blow over in a few days and they'd both apologize and things would be right in the world. As she closed her eyes for a nap, only one thing filtered through her mind before sleep overtook her.

_'Poor naive me. This is just beginning...'_


End file.
